Ken Surrashu
by SilverStarWolfGoddessAmarantha
Summary: What if Kayaba had a little sister who was even more obsessed with video games and Sword Art Online? How would things change? Get an idea of what the Beta Testing month(s) was like, before the actual version came out!
1. Beginning of the Sword Slash

AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape or form, at most I own the plot, and the OCs.

As Kayaba Akihiko worked on his virtual game, his younger sister Kayaba Hikari was lying on her stomach playing Pokemon. Her feet were kicking back and forth and it was obvious she was unbothered by the humming of the computers. She was wearing a crimson kimono and had earbuds in. Suddenly Kayaba made a frustrated noise and Hikari looked up, her black eyes staring at her brother. She inquired sweetly, taking an earbud out, "Is there a problem ani-kun?" Akihiko nodded,

"Yes imoto. My game, Sword Art Online, the levels of getting to Aincrad, I don't know how to make them realistic!" Hikari just stared at her older brother by seven years. Who cared that he was 25 and she was 18? That didn't mean they couldn't get along. Hikari turned her attention back to her game before responding,

"Well ani-kun, you could make each level have multiple spiraling levels upwards. And before the players can move to the next actual floor have to defeat a boss. Not to mention the path to the stairs isn't always straightforward. Sometimes there are hidden doors or stairways in my game. In my game, well there isn't always a boss, but there are always monsters or other Pokemon that get in my way. To move forward I have to knock them out. Or you know, stun or make them sleep, but even that doesn't last for long." Suddenly she glinted, "You know ani-kun, when you finish creating your game… I want to be the first one to play it. You're going to make me the first Beta-Tester. You hear me?!" Akihiko looked at his sister fondly,

"Of course imoto-chan. I wouldn't dream of doing anything else or letting anyone play this game before you." Hikari blinked before she reminded her brother,

"Don't forget ani-kun to leave us a way out of the game if you DO trap everyone else inside." Akihiko smiled at his sister before he turned back to his computer to work on Sword Art Online. His sister, Hikari, had some good ideas… He planned on using them.

A few days later Akihiko announced to his sister, "It's done! Ready to try it out imoto-chan?" Hikari looked up with a grin on her face.

"Yes!" She grabbed a nearby Nerve Gear and slipped it over her head, pausing for only a second to position herself, "Link Start!" Colors flashed by her before it asked her for her username, and she typed out _Ai-Chan_. Then it asked for her password and she hesitated for only but a moment before she typed out _Dialga-Palkia-Combo-Move-12_. She then landed on a page that asked for her character description. She chose a girl character, selected black eyes that would flash red when she was excited. Ai-Chan wore a mix of black and red, a dress that was black with red swirls crawling on it. Her boots were brown dragon leather. Her hair was waist length that was black, edged with a shiny blue. Finally she selected her sword, a plain black katana. At last she landed in the Starting Town. She looked up as her brother landed next to her. She grinned at him, "Ani-kun!" He smiled at her softly,

"Call me Heathcliff." Ai-Chan nodded at her ani-kun, agreeing with him. She cheered,

"Okay, let's start the first floor." Heathcliff's' eyes widened in surprise,

"Wow, you're certainly ambitious Ai-Chan!" She chuckled before running off to the dungeon. Heathcliff followed her at an easy sedate pace, making certain that she stayed within his sight range. He'd hate for something to happen to his little sister. He watched in amazement as she entered the dungeon with no fear. As soon as she came upon the monsters she slaughtered them with ease, earning quite a bit of Col, the money in this world. She received many items from the monsters she slaughtered, before coming upon the boss. Illfang the Kobold Lord. She stared at him for a moment before her eyes flashed red,

"Okay, time for Ai-Chan's signature move, Tornado Slash!" Needless to say Heathcliff was more than impressed with his sister for having come up with a signature move so quickly. Then he noticed the Kobold Lord move to attack Ai-Chan. He yelled out,

"Watch out imoto-chan!" He quickly brought up his shield and blocked Illfang's attack. Ai-Chan landed without a problem. She smiled at her brother,

"Thanks ani-kun!" Then she turned back to the battle, "Since you have high defense stats, why don't you block while I attack?" Heathcliff nodded in agreement as Ai-Chan rushed Illfang, managing two powerful hits. As it moved to counter attack Ai-Chan jumped back as Heathcliff jumped forward blocking the attack in the meanwhile. They switched like this continuously for a few minutes before the Kobold's last HP bar was red. Ai-Chan called out, "Okay, Hurricane Tornado Whirlwind!" She launched herself at Illfang spinning like insanity striking eight blows, barely slowing down as she swung up and hard, finally killing the monster, which burst into a million blue green little pieces. A congratulations signed appeared mid-air and Ai-Chan grinned at her ani-kun, "We make a great team don't we Heathcliff?" Heathcliff nodded and he got a window as well. He had earned some EXP, col, and skill points. Then he heard Ai-Chan giggle, "Hey, ani-kun, I got the boss drop! A coat of midnight. It sounds cool doesn't it?" Heathcliff watched as his little sister put the coat on. He could openly admit that it looked good with her dress. He gave her a thumbs up,

"That looks great on you imoto-chan!" He gave her a once over as he laughed, "You took to this game like a fish in water." Ai-Chan simply smiled at him, she really was all the light in his world.

"I love video games, role-playing even more ani-kun. The more realistic it is the more I enjoy the game." Heathcliff returned her smile as he turned his attention to the doorway.

"Shall we check out the next floor?" Ai-Chan nodded enthusiastically,

"Yes, let's!" So the two moved to the next level where there was another town. Ai-Chan paused before looking up at her brother, "Hey, ani-kun. I'm going to be an administrator right?" Her brother nodded and Ai-Chan continued, "Can my admin ID be different than my character name?" Heathcliff blinked before chuckling,

"Of course it can be imoto-chan, if that is what you desire." Ai-Chan fist pumped the air,

"Yes!" She looked at her brother, "I want my admin ID to be SilverWind okay ani-kun?" He smiled indulgently at her,

"Of course imoto-chan. Whatever you want." She paused for another moment,

"Ani-kun, are there other towns and training areas on the very first floor?" Heathcliff shook his head and Ai-Chan frowned, "Ani-kun! Some people might need to train before entering the dungeon! You should add more towns to each floor! And training spots for that matter. What about items? How many do you have created?" Heathcliff thought for a moment,

"About a thousand of each item type. A thousand clothing items, a thousand different weapons, a thousand of medicinal items…" Ai-Chan gave her brother the evil eye,

"That isn't enough if you're planning on having ten thousand people play! You'll need a hundred thousand of each item type because this game can't be simple!" Akihiko nodded,

"You have a valid point Hikari. I'll work on that." Hikari smiled happily at her brother before skipping ahead of him. Akihiko couldn't help but laugh at his little sister's enthusiasm. He really did love her and would do anything for her. He walked after her swiftly as they worked their way through another dungeon. This time they took turns slaughtering the monsters who dared get in their way. Ai-Chan's eyes were continuously flashing as she laughed and twirled her way around the monsters. The Bullbous Bow wasn't a challenge at all for either of them. Heathcliff simply hung back as he knew his sister wouldn't approve of him interfering. It constantly charged them and the two sidestepped easily causing the 'boar' to ram into the walls instead. It was just too easy to beat the thing. Soon they had managed to map out the second floor and Ai-Chan was breathing heavily. She looked at the boss door before glancing at her brother,

"Mind if we pause for a bit?" Heathcliff shook his head,

"Not at all." He glanced at the clock and noticed that quite a bit of time had passed. "Imoto-chan, would you like to take a break from SAO? It's been six hours since we entered." Ai-Chan looked up in surprise,

"It's really been that long ani-kun?" Heathcliff nodded. Ai-Chan grinned, "Then let's save and beat this boss tomorrow morning after you make the adjustments." Heathcliff smiled,

"Sounds like a plan _imoto_." Ai-Chan blinked at him,

"I've never heard you say sister like that ani-kun." Heathcliff shrugged and they both saved before logging out. Hikari flopped onto the nearby body pillow, her black eyes gleaming with happiness. She turned to Akihiko and told him joyfully, "Your game is awesome! Once someone clears SAO promise me you'll make another virtual MMO of Pokemon?" Akihiko slowly sat up rubbing his eyes before smiling at Hikari,

"Anything to please you Hikari. If you want it, I will find a way to give it to you." Hikari beamed at him before tackling him to the floor hugging him.

"You're the best brother _ever_ Akihiko!" The two siblings turned and walked over to the kitchen. Akihiko stood by the stove,

"Okay imoto-chan, what do you want for dinner?" Hikari looked at the ceiling thinking carefully,

"Um, does Soba, Tempura, and Yakitori sound good ani-kun?" Akihiko chuckled,

"No problem imoto-chan. I'll get onto that, it won't take more than an hour." Hikari smiled at him and ran off to her room. Akihiko simply shook his head as he started cooking. His sister was entirely too obsessed with her games. As he cooked, almost on autopilot, he thought about how his sister spent the majority of her time playing games, reading, or writing. She was smart and had graduated early in America. She had transferred over early at fifteen and during that time Akihiko began planning his personal world, Aincrad. Hikari returned at seventeen, returning with a bachelor's degree in English. Akihiko had been more than impressed. He, himself was a genius, but Hikari was a close second. He glanced at the clock and realized it had been 45 minutes and in ten minutes the food would be done. He went up to his little sister's room and knocked on her door. He heard faintly,

"Come in." He opened the door inwardly and poked his head in,

"Dinner will be done in ten minutes." Hikari nodded, not looking up from her game,

"Alright, ani-kun. I'll go ahead and save in a few minutes then come down. Okay ani-kun?" Akihiko shrugged,

"Whenever you're ready Hikari." That caused her to look up,

"You almost never call me by my given name. What's up?" Akihiko rolled his eyes,

"You are entirely too observant for your own good Hikari." This just caused Hikari to frown as Akihiko continued, "Sometimes I just need to remind myself who you are. And while I was cooking I was thinking of you. What you were like when you were a kid, the kind of person you are, your trip to America, your return only a year ago... You are a radiant young girl and sometimes I'm not sure what you're doing still here at this house." Hikari blinked before giggling,

"Oh silly Akihiko. Even if I am radiant, _you're_ the Eternal Prince. Besides it's not like I've changed much if at all since I was born." Akihiko nodded explaining,

"And that exactly worries me. You haven't changed or evolved. People are always changing aren't they?" Hikari shook her head fiercely,

"I don't _need_ to change. Why should I? I'm perfectly content being who I am." Akihiko sighed as he began explaining,

"You have to understand Hikari. I've seen people change over the years simply to survive. Everyone I know has, even our parents. I know I have. But you've stayed in an almost stasis when it comes to personality. Your game interests have never changed, not in genre or types of games, nor your reading interests with fantasy. You rarely delve into any other genres of books. As for your writing style, that's the only thing that I've ever seen change and even that is only for school. It worries me since I've seen everyone change around me but you. Your interests, nothing about you has ever changed." Hikari glared at her brother,

"I haven't changed because I don't need to. What is it about that, that you don't understand?! I am more than content being the person I am and so what if I don't like trying new things?! I do sometimes, but it isn't often because I simply don't WANT to! Are you saying I'm not good enough to be your sister or something Akihiko? Are you saying you don't like the kind of person I am? Exactly _what_ are you trying to suggest?!" Akihiko simply looked at his sister before abruptly changing the subject,

"Dinner will get cold if we don't eat it." Hikari rolled her eyes and stood up,

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it ani-kun we won't. I doubt it actually matters anyways." Her eyes flashed, "But I'm not planning on changing anytime soon, so don't even _think_ about pushing it ani-kun." Akihiko followed his sister morosely, he hadn't meant to set her off. He had just been concerned and thought it had been strange that he had never seen her change anything. Her eating habits, study habits, personality adjust to different environments... Of course it wasn't like she had left the house often other than for school and that brief transfer to America. And even after having visited America it hadn't seemed like Hikari had changed at all. For once the two siblings ate in silence, both of their parents out working which was normal. Most of the time meals were filled with chatter and noise, but this time it was different. As soon as Hikari finished dinner she stood up instead of waiting for her brother to finish,

"I'm going to put this away and then go to bed. Don't try to bother me." Hikari put away her plates and once she was out of sight Akihiko put his head in his hands. He had messed up. He didn't want to damage the relationship with his sister. She was so amazing. He finished his meal and headed back up to his work room. Now to implement the changes his sister had suggested. He glanced at the blankets, pillows, stuffed toys, and 'cabinet' where Hikari normally played and sighed again. He couldn't believe that he had driven her away. He could've used her creativeness to help him with the one hundred thousand different types of items she had suggested.

Much to Akihiko's surprise once he logged on, he found an email from his sister. It had been sent only a few minutes ago. Inside was a number of items he could add which included the names, properties and descriptions of the items. It was a large list of at least ten thousand different items. Akihiko was miserable, he was now not only on the outs with his sister, but now he owed her. Even after their argument she was helping him. Akihiko felt like he was pathetic compared to his sister. His sister was always happy doing whatever, even if she refused to try new things. He shook his head and got back to work creating the items that Hikari had suggested.


	2. Fighting and Resolving

Chapter 2: Fighting and Resolving

AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape, or form, at most I own the plot and OCs.

In her room Hikari was lying on her back staring at the ceiling. She was wondering why her ani-kun had brought up change. She thought it had been odd and couldn't really believe her brother's words. After all, they cared for each other right? It shouldn't matter if they change or don't. Did he find her intolerable now that he had changed? Hikari really didn't get her ani-kun sometimes. Maybe it was because he was 25 and she was 18. Did he finally think the age gap was disgusting and that they should stop hanging out? Maybe he thought that the games she loved were sad and pathetic since they were so juvenile. But Hikari _enjoyed_ the games _because_ they were juvenile. Since she knew everything about the games schematics it meant it was easy to beat. It wasn't really boring for her. For what reason she didn't know.

Hikari rolled over and began fiddling with her action figures. She had so many, however, several of them were stored in her brother's work room for when she watched him or joined him for company. Even though most of the time she was content, Hikari got lonely often which is why she hung around her brother so often. It made her feel not so lonely. Perhaps a childish reason, but Hikari didn't really care. She loved her brother and would go to the ends of the earth for him. She could only hope that he would do the same for her.

To take her mind off the argument they had Hikari began thinking of her avatar. As usual she would prefer being well-rounded rather than specializing in a certain trait. Maybe if she played long enough she would max out all of the skills. That would be simple right? Hikari rolled the idea around in her head before coming to the same realization as she had in her games, no it wouldn't be easy and it would take time. It always took time, but as the very first Beta-Tester she would have more time than usual. Besides, her...Akihiko would probably take her suggestions and put them in the game, meaning she'd know the game schematics rather well, since she had come up with them. Hikari glanced at her 3DS before sighing and putting her arm over her eyes. It was late... and Hikari promptly fell asleep.

The next morning at 8 AM Hikari woke up and looked at her door. Normally Akihiko would have woken her up an hour earlier and make her breakfast. Hikari sighed as she stood up from bed and headed into the kitchen. Unsurprisingly Akihiko wasn't there, but to her surprise there was breakfast. Steamed rice, miso soup, and tamagoyaki topped off by a glass of Ryokucha. Hikari smiled morosely, even still her brother looked out for her. She ate quietly, wondering what she should do. The food tasted amazing, incredibly tasteful, but her brother was talented, she really couldn't expect much less since she's eaten his food for almost her entire life. She wandered about the house, which really wasn't too huge considering it had roughly eleven rooms. Okay, fine, some people might consider that several rooms, but Hikari wasn't interested in caring at the moment. Suddenly there was a noise behind her and Hikari spun on her heel to find herself face to face with her brother. He looked at her before speaking softly,

"I didn't mean to offend you last night, you know that right?" Hikari merely eyed him not responding. Akihiko sighed, "Imoto-chan..." He looked at her carefully, "If you wanted to know I added all of your items that you suggested last night. And the world is ready if you want to play again." Hikari remained silent before walking past him into his work area. She reached out to hold the NerveGear and glanced at the doorway where her brother lingered. Soundlessly she disconnected the NerveGear and all the equipment needed with it, before carrying it out of the room to take it into her room. Akihiko's eyes followed her movements before he released a quiet breath. At least she hadn't yelled at him.

Hikari entered her room and began setting the NerveGear up. She put it on and muttered, "Link Start." She was transported to the corridor in front of the boss room. She pushed the door open right after she equipped the proper supplies, _Midnight Coat, Bloody Katana,_ and _Dragon Boots_. She entered and a Rev the Troll King was in front of her. Cyclops surrounded her and Hikari lashed out with anger. What right did her brother have to judge her? So what if other people changed? Why wasn't she allowed to stay the same? Who did those idiots in America think they were? Hikari wasn't even paying attention to the battle as she completely decimated the cyclops. Soon enough there was only Rev left. Hikari roared,

"No one beats Ai-Chan the Crimson Avenger! Not Heathcliff! Not her parents! Not any Beta-Tester! Ai-Chan is the Scarlet Bitch! The Roaring Flames of Hell! She's the Devil herself!" Her blade streamed at her side, glowing black, horizontal as she jumped up slashing up and to her left. Before she landed she twisted into a cyclone, "Tornado Slash!" The sword gleamed yellow as it landed four hits in her spinning. The boss abruptly roared back at Hikari and its own blade, a club, swung at her. Hikari swept backwards before charging, recklessly, forward. Rev swept the club side to side, but Hikari sailed through the air completely avoiding the attack. "Even Rev the Troll King can't escape Ai-Chan the Roaring Flames of Hell wrath!" She initiated the attack Starburst and the boss twitched before exploding into blue shards. Hikari's eyes remained red with anger rather than excitement. Then the door into the opened revealing Heathcliff. Unfortunately there were no dead corpses as they had all vanished.

Hikari turned on her brother, eyes still red. Heathcliff waited for her to speak. "I am Ai-Chan the Crimson Avenger. The Scarlet Bitch. The Roaring Flames of Hell. The Devil. Who are you to judge me?" Heathcliff's grey eyes were calm as he answered,

"I am Heathcliff the Eternal Prince. I am the Man of Legend. The Paladin. I wield the Holy Sword and Liberator." Ai-Chan's eyes narrowed,

"You judge me still?" Heathcliff shook his head,

"I do not Crimson Avenger. Scarlet Bitch. Roaring Flames of Hell. Devil. There is nothing for me to judge. No reason." Ai-Chan then turned her back on her brother,

"Very well then Eternal Prince. Man of Legend. Wielder of the Holy Sword and Liberator. I shall take my leave." She then swept out the door to level three. Akihiko stared after his sister before following her. He wondered if she was taking this game too far. He exited the dungeon after her, thankfully she was still in sight. He called out to her,

"Ai-Chan, I just wanted to let you know, the one thousand other Beta-Testers have been chosen." Ai-Chan paused for but a moment before she continued onto the mountain. Heathcliff activated his ID and watched his sister. She had already leveled up to 22. That was fast considering when they left she had been level 15 and he had been 14. He considered the fact that she had beaten Rev the Troll King and his 25 cyclop minions, which would give her an EXP boost. He glanced at his own level, which was still 14. He was going to need to catch up to his sister and soon. He quickly edited his avatar so he looked an adult with brown hair and green eyes. He was lean and he also switched to grey armor. He exchanged his Holy Sword and Liberator for his Metal Pin (a rapier type sword that looked similar to a needle but is fairly strong, becomes available on the second level of Aincrad) and Black Scale (a black round shield made out of dragon scales, becomes available on the fifteenth level of Aincrad). He turned around to the dungeon and quickly began fighting the numerous monsters that had begun spawning. He called this process 'leveling'.

Heathcliff fought, seeking to one hit kill all of his opponents, he would not let them kill him. He needed to at least match his sister's level or rise above it. So he slashed and stabbed, primarily stabbing, the small wolf-like creatures. There were dozens of them and Heathcliff was glad that he had chosen to up his Strength, Defense, and Stamina stats. He defeated almost 50 of them before he started to notice that even the wolves he wasn't attacking were crying. He looked up for a moment and saw his sister fighting through them as well with her Blood Thorn. She called it her Bloody Katana, but the proper name was Blood Thorn. Ai-Chan was not only slashing the creatures, but when they got too close she kicked them away with the same power. Not for the first time Heathcliff was proud of his imoto-chan. Finally the two stood back to back. Heathcliff inquired,

"Have you forgiven me yet Ai-Chan-san?" Ai-Chan merely answered,

"We will see about that ani-kun." Heathcliff took that positively and began attacking the creatures even harder with harsher and more powerful techniques. Then he heard a question, "Why did you change your gear?"

"I will use that gear and avatar in the actual game, not for Beta-Testers to see. Except you of course."

"What is your opinion of the Beta-Testers?"

"They are only there to double check the system. But Cardinal does not need human input."

"Make sure Cardinal doesn't stop the Mental Health Programs from working, such as Yui, Akane, and Akemi."

"Will do imoto-chan."

"Thought you'd never call me that again."

"You called me ani-kun first. I assumed that was you giving me permission to call you imoto-chan again. Am I wrong?"

"I don't want you to call me by my name. Imoto-chan sounds so much better."

"Then I better not hear you calling me Akihiko again."

"Very well ani-kun." Soon enough the triolfs or wolves made of trees were all dead. The two siblings turned to face each other again.

"I forgive you ani-kun, but please never bring up that subject again."

"Okay imoto-chan."

"What's your level ani-kun?"

"21."

"24." The two siblings laughed and headed back to the town to get 'food'. In actuality it was lunch time and the two were going to log out. They stood before the third floor dungeon before saving and logging out simultaneously. Once back in the real world Hikari smiled at her brother,

"I'm glad we stopped fighting. I didn't like it." Akihiko nodded,

"I agree. Let's try to never fight again." He looked at her seriously, "Also, please don't continue using the NerveGear in your room. I'm much more comfortable when we are in the same room when we are using it." Hikari shrugged,

"Sure no problem ani-kun." Akihiko grinned,

"Now what shall we have for lunch?" Hikari wondered,

"Would you be able to cook American foods?" Akihiko chuckled,

"Why not?" Hikari smiled,

"Then let's try some of those famous American hamburgers!"

"Sounds like a plan imoto-chan." Hikari hopped onto a bar stool in the kitchen to watch her brother cook. She didn't do this often, but she was curious how her brother would handle this challenge. She gazed at him calmly, all signs of their feud over. She didn't say a word as she watched him mix up various ground meats, spices, and other types of food. He shaped the patties with his hands and Hikari watched in fascination. Once again Hikari was awed by her brother, he was so used to cooking Japanese foods, yet he transitioned over to cooking American foods with such ease. She remained silent as he put the 'slabs' of meat on the grill they used to make teriyaki chicken. About ten minutes late of watching the burgers Akihiko flipped them over and waited another 10 minutes.

He turned around and smiled at his little sister, "Well, I'm done, ready to try it?" Hikari beamed,

"I'd like to try anything you make Ani-kun! I'm sure it will be absolutely delicious. Like anything that you make!" He served her a burger, with the full works. She eagerly picked it up and bit off a piece. Her obsidian eyes lighting up, "This is _good_ ani-kun! You should open your own restaurant!" Akihiko looked at her softly, chuckling,

"It certainly sounds like a good idea, but I'm not into being in the kitchen all day." Hikari rolled her eyes,

"Yet you're content to stay on the computer all day." Akihiko pretended to think before answering,

"Yup, that's about right imoto-chan." The two siblings laughed together as Hikari finished her burger and Akihiko ate his quickly to catch up to his sister. Hikari turned towards her brother,

"When will the Beta-Testers be joining us again?" Akihiko answered,

"I expect them to start as soon as they can manage, meaning tomorrow." Hikari sighed,

"I suppose that means you'll be restarting the game." Akihiko laughed,

"Oh, they'll start at the beginning imoto-chan. Only we will have access to the levels we have already unlocked. They will have to wait until _they_ re-beat the boss before they can move on." Hikari fist-pumped,

"Yeah! That means we have a head-start ani-kun!" Akihiko nodded sagely,

"That is true imoto-chan. As moderators we will have access to everything." Hikari smiled viciously,

"Once the _real_ game begins, no one will _dare_ get in my way. I won't let them!" Most people wouldn't have taken Hikari seriously. They didn't know her but Akihiko did. He knew that once his sister dedicated herself to something she would go all the way through. It was year 2200 and Hikari had often made goals and completed them with a certain amount of ease many people would be jealous of. She never showed any sign of stress, but her talents had displayed that she was _not_ someone you wanted to mess with. Akihiko nodded in agreement,

"I believe you imoto-chan. I look forward to seeing you in action." Hikari nodded at her brother before leaving the room. She called out behind her,

"I'll be back here at midnight to start playing so don't expect me for breakfast!" Akihiko didn't reply double-checking Sword Art Online's codes.


	3. The Beta-Testers Begin

Chapter 3: The Beta-Testers Begin

AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape, or form, at most I own the plot and OCs.

Hikari stayed up all night waiting until 11:40 PM to enter her brother's work room. She had been simultaneously been playing two different video games, watching an AMV, and reading. She was absolutely amazing at time-sharing/switching. She could switch her focus so quickly it allowed her do multiple things at once. The moment the clock hit 11:40 PM Hikari dragged all of her electronics into her brother's work room and saved her two games. Right before the clock hit 12:00 AM Hikari put her NerveGear on and sang the words, "Link Start!" She landed with ease and quickly tapped out her username and password. She was launched into where she had saved previously, but she quickly moved over to the first floor. She found a tree to hide in and quickly climbed it. Her stats had been reset but she still had her items. She would wait to level. She watched the Welcoming Gate patiently, sitting there for several minutes before three people materialized. One was a tall, dark-blue haired male who looked slightly overconfident. He had a sword strapped onto his back and was wearing the basic clothing, but even though he was to an extent plain, he was more interesting than the teal-haired guy who was rather pale. Next to the dark-blue haired male was a smaller girl-like figure. She had short brown hair and eyes and also looked interesting. As they walked around Hikari, or Ai-Chan now, followed them silently. She gazed at them for a long time, observing them as they killed Frenzy Boars. She felt that they were strong, but she desired to test their strength for herself.

A ten yards before they approached the dungeon she quickly walked up behind them and spoke quietly but menacingly, "Get out of my way or I'll kill you." Immediately the dark blue-haired boy moved sideways and promptly stared at her. The teal-haired guy did very much the same, but the cloaked person remained still. She responded quietly but harshly,

"And why should I get out of your way?" Ai-Chan responded by kicking the cloaked person into the ground, pointing her sword at her still hidden face replying with a hard tone,

" _This_ is why. I am not someone to be trifled with." Then Ai-Chan kicked the figure again before striding off. The dark blue-haired male quickly caught up to her and introduced himself,

"Hi, I'm Kirito. Do you mind if I join you?" Ai-Chan thought this over before sounding out his name,

"Kirito-kun huh? Ki-ri-to. Kiiiiirito-kuuuuuuun. I like it. My name is Ai-Chan. And yes the honorific is actually part of my name." While she was talking she looked at Kirito. Kirito chuckled,

"It's nice to meet you too, Ai-Chan." Ai-Chan giggled as the blue-haired male followed Kirito's example, leaving the cloaked figure behind. He rushed out,

"My name is Diabel and I'm following Kirito for now. He seems to know quite a bit about this game." Once again Ai-Chan sounded out this newcomer's name,

"Diaaaaaaaabel. Diabel. Diabel-kun. Okay then. Call me Ai-Chan." All the while Ai-Chan never looked at Diabel, instead walking powerfully towards the dungeon. Once they stood at the entrance the three of them unsheathed their weapons which had been resting on their backs. Ai-Chan's was a one-handed long sword that was a flat red. Kirito's sword was the Beginner Sword, as was Diabel's. Neither of the two males paid any attention to the difference in weapon. Instantly some small Kobolds attacked them. Kirito activated his upward slash before moving to a strong Horizontal. Diabel on the other hand was using the two-handed beginner sword and he also used a power Horizontal. Ai-Chan was swinging her sword like insanity, going horizontal left, uppercut, spin in her hands, stab down, spin around with a horizontal right before swinging it up and around into a horizontal left. Ai-Chan was defeating the monsters in two to three strikes while Kirito was taking roughly four to five and Diabel eight. Soon enough all the monsters were cleared.

Behind them the cloaked person followed them almost undetected. However Ai-Chan spun around as soon as the mob was defeated and pointed her sword at the cloaked figure, "You're the one I threatened earlier, so why are you following us?" The cloaked figure spoke quietly,

"I am going to be an information broker so I need to collect all the data on the monsters on the first floor. In order to do that I must observe their tactics and other players fighting them." Ai-Chan demanded,

"Name?"

"Argo. Yours?" Ai-Chan thought it over,

"Aaargo. Argo. Argo-chan. Argo-kun. Argo-kuuuuuuuuun." She then looked at Argo in the eye, "Ai-Chan." Argo had frowned upon hearing Ai-Chan decide on calling her Argo-kun. She made it sound as if Argo was a little kid. A gaki. She didn't appreciate it, but she could hardly stop her. Ai-Chan had already proved herself to be strong. The four of them began constantly mapping out the first floor dungeon and after roughly three hours Kirito, Diabel, and Argo decided to call it quits. Ai-Chan simply decided to follow their lead for the moment even if she wasn't tired at all.

In the town of beginnings a blue light appeared as a tall guy, with dark blue slicked back hair, silver eyes, and he was wearing the standard clothing. He blinked once before heading to the field of Frenzy Boars. He unsheathed the standard katana and began killing them quickly. He continued attacking them for roughly four hours and by that time the player was level 2 after 'leveling' for four hours against low level monsters. He began to head towards the dungeon hoping to go against some stronger opponents. That was where he ran into the four who had been mapping the dungeon. He slowed down when he saw the four figures. He was rather surprised as he thought he was the only one logged on. As they approached each other with roughly a yard of space between them the dark-blue haired man spoke, "I thought I was the only one logged on. Who are you?" Kirito replied first,

"Name's Kirito. I just met them a couple of hours ago." At this Diabel rolled his eyes,

"Kirito, you've known us for seven hours now. We logged in at one in the morning." Diabel turned to the dark-blue haired man, "My name is Diabel." Ai-Chan spoke up coldly,

"You asked us for our names but you haven't give yours. What is it?" The dark-blue haired man chuckled rubbing his neck sheepishly,

"You have a point lady." Looking up he continued, "Name's Tenshi Enzero. I personally use a Katana, but I need to update it direly." Ai-Chan responded more nicely,

"Nice to meet you Tenshi-kun. I am sure we will work great together in the official version. Call me Ai-Chan." Tenshi merely nodded as he waited for Argo to introduce herself. She stuck out her hand,

"Call me Argo. Information Broker." Tenshi nodded at that before inquiring,

"Did you come from the dungeon?" Ai-Chan was about to respond when she noticed two other players behind Tenshi. She drew her single-handed flat red sword and pointed it at them, her voice hard,

"Who are you and why were you trailing Tenshi-kun?" The one with dark red hair spoke up first,

"Sorry. We just wanted to find the dungeon and this guy," she flicked her thumb at Tenshi, "seemed to know his way around." Her yellow cat eyes blinked before she smirked, "Name's Misaki. Yours?" Ai-Chan didn't respond, instead focusing on the girl with loose curly waist length hair. She spoke quietly,

"Chiki Kamu." Ai-Chan looked them over carefully taking in Misaki's lithe form, speed-based, rapier, and waist length crimson hair. She wore the standard gear, but Ai-Chan got the feeling the girl would end up rather strong. The other girl was also sort of short, just a little taller than Ai-Chan, but she had green eyes going with her dark caramel colored hair. Well it was actually more of a light brown, but not that boring brown. Suddenly Misaki waved her hand in front of Ai-Chan's face,

"Hello? Are you going to introduce yourself?" Ai-Chan blinked before narrowing her eyes,

"Don't backtalk me Misaki-chan. It won't end well for you." She turned to Chiki, "Nice to meet you Kamu-chan. Call me Ai-Chan. And yes, the honorifics part of my name. Don't call me Ai." Misaki raised her right eyebrow,

"Interesting choice of name Ai-Chan." Ai-Chan turned her attention to the 'ginger' and spoke darkly,

" _You_ can call me Ai-Chan-sama." Misaki grinned, her yellow eyes bright,

"Anything you say Ai-Chan-sama! You're so cool." Ai-Chan nodded,

"That's more like it." Finally Argo spoke,

"So Misaki and Chiki know the dark-blue haired guy who is Tenshi Enzero. The normal teal blue haired guy is Diabel and the other dark blue-headed guy is Kirito. I'm Argo, information broker." Ai-Chan offered,

"If you'd like I can accompany you to and through the dungeon. Kirito, Diabel, Argo, and I already mapped out portions of it." The three easily agreed to the idea while Kirito stalled,

"Are you sure you want to continue grinding after three hours of it already?" Even Tenshi paused at this statement while Misaki stared at Ai-Chan in awe almost screaming,

"That's _amazing_!" Ai-Chan shot an annoyed look at Kirito,

"I'll be fine Kirito-kun. I'm hurt that you'd even be worried about me." Kirito merely smiled at her,

"Then I guess I'll join you." Diabel blinked then double checked,

"You sure Kirito?" Kirito nodded but Argo waved it off,

"I'm sure the man will be fine Diabel. We have nothing to worry about. Besides, he has Ai-Chan watching over him." Kirito blushed but Ai-Chan picked up a small stone and chucked it at Argo's head without using the system assist. Argo scowled at her,

"Hey, I was complimenting you!" Ai-Chan simply turned her back to Argo and began walking back towards the dungeon. Tenshi, Kamu, Misaki, and Kirito followed Ai-Chan as she headed back to the dungeon. As Argo and Diabel headed back to the town, they found several new players wandering around the town. Argo blinked before realizing the rest of the beta testers must have logged on. She went up to them and inquired their player names and their weapon preferences. None of them seemed bothered by her questions and answered them with no caution whatsoever. Argo mentally noted who everyone she spoke to, storing their information in her head to write down later. She walked off and no one noticed her disappearance. She noted that several of them appeared to be suspicious, particularly Sutoraiki, Tekunoaifu, Shizukana, and Taiyo. Something about them set them apart from the other Beta-Testers. Of course it could simply be their weapons of choice, Sutoraiki's being a poisonous dagger, Tekunoaifu's paralyzing throwing knives, Shizukana's kusarigama, and Taiyo's scythe. Almost everyone else had chosen a two handed-sword, one handed sword and katana as their weapons.

She also learned that no one could create a guild in the Beta Test, which she also found strange. She had to do some digging, so she set out to create a manual for Ken Surasshu, the hottest and only VRMMORPG. She was certain more were being made, but first she had to secure her position as top information broker in this game.

In the meanwhile, Ai-Chan was leading the four into the dungeon. She explained to them how to use the System Assist. Tenshi-kun was glad that such a beautiful girl was helping him and Misaki was jealous of how much attention Ai-Chan was giving to Tenshi. Of course Ai-Chan was addressing only the three of them. Kirito walked next to her and he seemed to be attempting to hold her hand, but she wouldn't let him. The dark-blue haired man was clearly getting impatient with Ai-Chan's attitude as he burst out during her explanation, "Will you just let me hold your hand?!" Ai-Chan paused during her explanation before replying cheerfully,

"Nope!" Before she continued explaining the mechanics of the game. Misaki grinned, so Ai-Chan _wasn't_ particularly interested in the boy. Misaki would admit that the boy was good-looking, handsome even, but Ai-Chan was _breath-taking_. Kirito had nothing on the girl. Soon the four of them had made it to the entrance of the dungeon. A title appeared: _Cavern of the Kobolds_. Ai-Chan informed them, "Most dungeons have their own unique name, but not all of them. Some foreshadow what the boss will be like. This one will obviously be a Kobold. Of course there are other dungeons, this is just the main one." With that the five entered the dungeon where they were immediately assaulted with Goblin Soldiers and Kobold Knights. The Goblins were rather ugly with axes that were easily avoided. They were also slow and clumsy making them easy to kill. The Knights were faster, but their weapons, swords, weren't particularly strong. They like the Goblins were easy to defeat. The five quickly defeated the horde before Ai-Chan ushered them onwards, further into the corridor. There they met many of the same monsters and the further they went in the stronger they got. Tenshi was huffing and puffing by the time they hit a dead end. Everyone else was fine and not the least bit tired. Kirito chuckled at Tenshi,

"Wow, you're a lightweight." Tenshi huffed,

"Well not all of us having been playing since one in the morning!" Ai-Chan interrupted the two males,

"You've leveled up quite a bit you know. Instead of level one, you are now at level four, Tenshi-kun, Kamu-chan, and Misaki-chan. That's quite an improvement." Misaki cheered,

"Yay! Ai-Chan-sama praised us!" Kamu-san spoke in a low, logical tone,

"She is the one who guided us to our levels. We did nothing special." Misaki pouted,

"You're so logical and boring Kamu-chan!" Kamu merely shrugged at Misaki's remark. Ai-Chan pulled up her map of the dungeon,

"We've gotten pretty far, but it looks like we'll have to double back." She looked in front of them at the wall, "This is clearly a dead-end." Ai-Chan turned around and started heading back. Tenshi asked,

"Ai-Chan, will the monsters be getting weaker since we are heading the opposite direction?" Ai-Chan replied,

"I'm afraid not Tenshi-kun. We aren't that lucky. The monsters will increase in difficulty for us as we are rather high in level compared to others." That caused Kirito to question,

"I'm level seven, and you said these guys are level four. You were here before us, so what level are you?" Ai-Chan hesitated for a moment before answering,

"Twelve." Kirito almost stopped in his tracks but Ai-Chan called out to him, "Don't fall behind just because you're in shock. Unless of course you _want_ to die and have your stats go and reset themselves." At those words Kirito quickly caught up to Ai-Chan and returned to walking by her side, while the other three trailed behind them. Ai-Chan offhandedly commented, "You're pretty good with that one-handed sword of your Kirito-kun. I look forward to when you get a higher caliber sword. Tenshi-kun isn't half bad with his katana either. And I really must commend Kamu-chan for handling that dagger of hers so splendidly… Misaki-chan is talented with her speed-type one handed sword. I wonder if a rapier would suit her better." Misaki grinned,

"Yes! After waiting so long, Ai-Chan-sama praised me!" Then she scowled, "But I'm not switching weapons. I like my sword." Ai-Chan shrugged as she continued striding through the dungeon. Kirito frowned,

"I wonder why no monsters have attacked us yet." As if attracted to his words swarms of Goblin Soldiers and Kobold Knights swarmed them. "Forget I said anything." Ai-Chan drew her sword before executing a strong Circle Slash destroying every monster surrounding her. Afterwards she used Infiniti and cleared the rest of the monsters swarming them. The four with her jaws dropped. Kirito was the first one to recover, "Where did you learn those skills?!"

Misaki nodded her head quickly, "Yeah, that was so cool!" Tenshi was shocked,

"I've never seen someone use two such powerful moves back to back. What about the cool down time?" Ai-Chan couldn't tell them that the cool down time was disabled for her. She hadn't liked it, so as a Game Admin she removed it from her Avatar. So she shrugged, not bothering to answer the boy. She could feel the two boys' eyes drilling into her back, but really, she wasn't _required_ to answer their question. As the five headed back towards town, Ai-Chan literally ran into a white-haired guy wearing a white button up shirt, black dress pants, and black tennis shoes. His hair was ridiculously spiky and messy, but Ai-Chan thought it looked good on the boy. They both stood up, dusting the dirt off their clothes. Ai-Chan studied the boy again, he was also wearing a black hoodie, which she found interesting. It all rather fit him well. Then her thoughts got cut off by Kirito stepping up and pointing his Beginner's Sword at the white-haired guy demanding,

"Who are you?" The guy unsheathed a gleaming scythe and spun it in his hands a few times before pointing it at Kirito,

"What's it to you? Aren't we all friendly and beginners here?" Kirito's eyes narrowed as he then powered up a System Assist launching himself forward towards him. Ai-Chan in the meantime turned on her Admin View. It allowed her to see the names and levels of players around her. She quickly took note that the guy's name was... Taiyo Shinigami. She found it an odd name, then she blinked at his level. He was level ten. He must have been leveling for a long time. The guy chuckled, "So, you want to fight." He then got serious, his eyes narrowing as well, "Then let's go." He spun the scythe a couple more times as Kirito charged, and he easily parried Kirito's Horizontal without using System Assist. Ai-Chan watched as the two attacked and came to a stalemate each and every time, despite Kirito's level disadvantage of three. She supposed that Kirito had more literal experience from fighting the various monsters in the dungeon they had been leveling in, but... She then backtracked, the scythe was a difficult weapon to wield, so she supposed this guy was impressive enough. However, after watching them fight for about twenty minutes Ai-Chan decided it was time to intervene. She activated her Dead Kusarigama and swung it at the boys' weapons before tangling the scythe and sword together. They both were forced to stop, unless they wanted to revert to close combat, and looked at where their weapons had gotten pulled. They stared at Ai-Chan who had grabbed their weapons, but before either of them could get a word out Ai-Chan was speaking,

"Name. Now. Kirito, sit down." The white-haired guy immediately obeyed,

"Taiyo." Kirito reluctantly sat down. Ai-Chan nodded and then proceeded to untangle the two weapons. She then threw them to their respective owners,

"I don't want to see that happen again. Understood?" Both boys nodded and then Ai-Chan announced, "I'm going back to The Town of Beginnings. You can come with me if you please, but do not consider it necessary." Ai-Chan continued to The Town of Beginnings and Kirito and Taiyo quickly followed her. Kamu, Misaki, and Tenshi merely stared after them, half wondering what had just happened. Misaki asked in a whisper,

"Did Kirito just get in a fight for Ai-Chan-sama?" Kamu blinked,

"It appears so Misaki-chan. That was rather strange though." Tenshi frowned,

"That guy was skilled with that scythe of his, but aren't those supposed to be unwieldy and difficult to handle?" Kamu shrugged,

"They are probably about as difficult to handle as any other weapon." Misaki noted,

"Most players chose one or two handed swords or katanas. Not many chose the more complicated weapons such as the scythe, kusarigama, daggers, throwing knives, or bows. There were a couple other weapon options, but they didn't turn out to be particularly popular." Kamu commented quietly,

"You certainly know quite a bit about this game already." Misaki shrugged,

"It's all public information." Tenshi cut in before the girls continued,

"Don't you think we should get moving? Ai-Chan, Kirito, and Taiyo are pretty far ahead of us." Misaki suddenly started running towards the three figures,

"I won't get left behind by Ai-Chan-sama!" The two looked in surprise as Misaki left them in a cloud of dust. Kamu and Tenshi looked at each other before taking off as well.


	4. Floor Fire

AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape, or form, at most I own the plot and OCs.

Everyone had gotten settled in the first floor and were ready to challenge the first boss. Diabel, Kirito, and Ai-Chan lead them to the boss floor where they met Illfang the Kobold Lord. Some of the players were surprised with how the room lit up with rainbows or at least changed color from the gray to reds and some pinks. Diabel shouted, "For Aincrad." He then rushed in and attacked the boss, but he was thrown off his feet by a Kobold Sentinel which he hadn't seen. Kirito jumped in to fend off Kobold Sentinel while Diabel got back to his feet. Diabel shouted to his comrades behind him, "Fight off the Kobold Sentinels, they are only a little stronger than the Kobold Knights along with dungeon!" The players cheered and rushed the Kobold Sentinels. Ai-Chan, even though she had initially led the charge, hung back to watch them beat the Boss. She watched them deal with the attack change after they got the third bar down to red. It had pulled out a talwar, a somewhat long sword that was a serious heavy hitter. Most of the players were able to dodge the sword, a few got caught within its reach and died however. No one payed that much attention as Diabel got the Last Attack Bonus of an upgraded sword. He had pulled off an impressive Upward Spiral to defeat the Boss. Kirito approached the teal-haired player with a friendly smile on his face, "Good going Diabel-kun." Diabel smiled at him in turn,

"We couldn't have done it without you Kirito." The two boys fist-bumped before exiting the first floor. Once they got to the second floor they noticed it was similar to the first floor, the main difference being the coloring. Instead of green and yellows, this floor was mostly blues. It had an even more calming aspect than the first floor.

Tenshi lingered behind and appeared anxious for someone to join him in the empty boss room. A couple minutes later a suspicious guy wearing all black entered into the boss room. His hair was a striking white, similar to Taiyo, and Tenshi thought that the guy would be disappointed how he wasn't entirely unique. The guy asked quietly but arrogantly, "How was the boss fight?" Tenshi answered,

"Three people took up the initial charge, one was a dark blue haired guy, slightly longer than normal haircuts, fairly tall, lean, uses the Anneal Blade, upgraded by +10. He has near black eyes. Another was a guy with lighter blue hair, sort of tealish, he is fairly tall as well, a bit more muscular and very charismatic. He uses a normal blade. The last person is a girl with waist length black hair, but the sides of it are a shiny blue. She wears a black dress with curling red designs. She can use more than weapon, although she's been using a single-handed red blade at the moment, but she has shown skill with a kusarigama." The white-haired guy hummed before walking back towards the entrance of the dungeon,

"Thanks Tenshi-kun, as useful as ever." Tenshi stared at his friend walked away, unaware that Ai-Chan had also back and caught sight of the player's name Hino Yori. Fire Night, not particularly exciting or strange.

The players enjoyed the second floor as much as they had enjoyed the first floor, which is saying something. Ai-Chan had her own mini entourage consisting of Kirito, Taiyo, Misaki, and Kamu. Tenshi often went off on his own, but they often joined them, as did Diabel. Ai-Chan attempted to brush them off, but it never worked. They stuck to her like glue and as much as it annoyed her, she just wanted to wait until more exciting events occurred in the Beta Test. She had reviewed her brother's plan and had been extremely pleased with how much the game progressed and grew harder with each "floor". He had taken her opinion into consideration and had made the game so much more in-depth. The System Assist served as specific attacks unlike the blank attack which was the equivalent to punching, slapping, or kicking someone with no technique _whatsoever_. Ai-Chan could attest to the fact that those attacks were _nothing_. Unfortunately her ani-kun made it near impossible to effectively attack or kill _anything_ without using the System Assist. That meant _no one_ could _realistically_ beat the two people who _made_ the game because they knew _exactly_ what moves were programmed into the System Assist. No one could be faster, stronger, or have more HP than them simply because _everything_ about them was maxed out. Normal attacks or blank attacks didn't have the same power as moves due to the momentum the System Assist put behind the moves.

Then there was the shady guy, whose hair made him stand out. He was at the outskirts playing with something in his hands. It was one of those tiny lighters, and really it was about time for the Beta-Testers to get a shock. They had been one for an entire day and he wanted the place to himself. Since the game was insanely realistic, this should work. He grinned, his dark blue eyes darkening further. He went up to a wooden building and quietly threw the light at it. The building instantly went up in flames. He walked around, cautiously, and then proceeded to throw more lighters at the wooden buildings. People came running out of buildings screaming. He was more than happy when he saw people log out frantically. As he watched more and more of them logout, his smile only became wider. Soon, there was no one in the town other than the NPCs. He went into the village and watched as the flames died out on their own. He chuckled, no one had realized that the fires wouldn't last longer than about ten minutes. However, _he_ was not aware that there were still some people on that floor. Specifically Ai-Chan, Kirito, Misaki, and Kamu were out in the forest leveling. Taiyo had wandered off to level on his own and had been the only of the five to see the fire.

The moment Taiyo saw the flames he immediately ran out to find Ai-Chan. He found her fairly quickly, killing off a rodent-like creature. Ai-Chan turned towards him and questioned, "What's up Taiyo-kun?" Taiyo responded immediately,

"The town is on fire! We need to do something." Ai-Chan merely stared at him before informing him,

"While things _can_ be set on fire it won't last longer than fifteen minutes. Kayaba didn't want this game to be that dangerous." She shrugged, "Besides it's only on fire, it won't do any actual damage to the players or buildings. It was only meant to make it more lifelike. I mean sure, if you stick your hand in the flames, you'll feel the heat and get the Burnt status, but since this is a safe zone, or the town is, it is impossible to get injured inside of it. You could of course manipulate it so it _looks_ like someone dies inside of it, but that would require a lot of planning." Taiyo stared at her,

"So the fire won't actually do any damage?" Kirito approached her from the behind,

"How do you know all of this anyways?" Ai-Chan looked annoyed,

"Really boys, did you not even _bother_ to read the manual?" It helped that she had created the game yes, but still...the game manual covered just about everything that could possibly occur in the game. This included the Immortal Object status, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Burnt, Frozen, and Confused statuses. Hell, the manual even had a list of what types of monsters were in the game, although it didn't include what floors they were on. But the manual was vital to playing the game as it displayed all the possible weapons that could be used in-game, the majority of Sword Skills or just the skills in general. There were a couple that were kept secret just because they were going to be exclusive, such as her brother Heathcliff's sword and shield combo. His shield was invincible, in fact it was an Immortal Object. She herself had Mirror Shields which she could form by moving her hand into the shape she wanted the shield to be. It was a special item that could only be discovered in the various crystal and mirror caves in the game. It was reusable and you could control the shield, meaning you could make steps out of them and move them around as you needed them. They would also disappear back into your inventory once you were done using them. Of course apparently the boys nothing of it. Ai-Chan sighed, "Really?" The boys nodded as Ai-Chan proceeded to explain what the manual covered,

"It covers everything you could _possibly_ need to play the game. It has the various monsters, although it doesn't include what floors they are on, nor how strong they are. It also has almost a full list of all the items except the truly exclusive ones, along with a list of skills that can be obtained and learned. A couple of quests are also inside the manual, helpful for getting ahead, earning Col, special items, and even free items." The boys jaws dropped as they realized that they _really_ should have read the manual as it contained _highly_ important information. Ai-Chan looked at the sky, "I'm going to logout for a bit. It's been over 16 hours since I've started playing." The boys jolted as they realized it was 4:00 pm real time and quickly toggled their menus to logout as well.

Ai-Chan was the first to log out and she quickly turned to where her brother normally lay. He wasn't there, however there was a note on his computer: _You've been Diving for a long time imoto-chan. I logged out around 11:30 and left you some lunch for whenever you chose to logout, which I figured would not be for a long time. If you are interested I logged in at 8:00, after breakfast (for me that is, you were busy Diving) and logged out at 11:30. I'm probably at my other job if I'm not at home._ Hikari smiled at her brother's note, happy he was so thoughtful. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found ramen, rice, and tamagoyaki with a large glass of water. She smiled and dug in, loving the flavor and spices her brother had mixed in with the food. There, once she finished, she found another note on the fridge: _I also noticed, when I checked the logs as Admin, you had activated your Admin Sight to find out someone's player name and level. Then I checked who you were with, a couple of guys. A Kirito, Diabel, and Tenshi. Later on you met some girls, Argo, Misaki, and Kamu if I'm not mistaken. Take care in choosing your allies in this game imoto-chan. I'd hate it if you got betrayed._ Hikari shrugged, she didn't really care.

She skipped back into the work room and put on the NerveGear again singing the words, "Link Start~" In an array of colors she was transported back into the field she had logged out from. She summoned her katana and then proceeded to decimate the opponents around her.

A couple hours later, it was extremely dark out, and a guy approached her. He was especially suspicious and shady. He had a brown cloak on with brown shaggy hair slipping out from under it. He spoke in a gravelly voice, "I heard from a certain information broker that you're one of the most powerful people in the game." Ai-Chan stopped hacking away at the monsters and replied without turning towards him,

"Perhaps we should talk somewhere safer." The cloaked man shrugged, almost carelessly,

"Whatever you desire my lady." With that the two walked off, side-by-side, unknowing of the blue haired man and the red haired girl watching them. They stopped once they reached a clearing.

"What's your name my lady? Surely it must be elegant and powerful." Ai-Chan informed him,

"My name is Ai-Chan, don't call me anything else." While fighting the monsters earlier she had activated her Admin's Sight, "Why have you approached me PoH?" This caused the man to pause and he near immediately inquired,

"And how did you learn my name Lady Ai-Chan?" Ai-Chan replied coolly,

"Don't waste my time on such small details as that. What do you want PoH?" This caused him to chuckle,

"Since I have found out that we will not be able to create guilds until the official version, I decided I would seek out the strongest players and invite them to my guild that I will create. The _Laughing Coffins_." Ai-Chan commented,

"That certainly sounds ominous. And what do you plan to do with such a guild?" PoH smirked underneath his hood,

"Kill all the players I can." Ai-Chan blinked before responding,

"That's… Ambitious of you." While it was only 8:00 pm, she suddenly realized how much the idea of people dying bothered her. She knew her brother planned on making the game complete reality and when people died in the game they would die in real life, but the thought of it didn't appeal to her. Them shattering into pixels…. She then appealed to the man, "How about this PoH? I won't join directly, but…" Her eyes narrowed as she whipped around to face him for once, "I win this fight I control the _entire guild_ from the shadows." Her voice softened but her tone didn't, "You may rule and control them as you wish, but you will come to _me_ before you kill anyone without just reason." PoH appeared to be thinking before he inquired,

"And what is your level my Lady Ai-Chan?" Ai-Chan merely allowed her level to show through the darkness, at level 24. PoH was unsurprised, Argo _had_ said after all she was the strongest one in the game, stronger than Kirito, Tenshi, and Diabel. He then showed his level, which was at 23. Ai-Chan almost hesitated before asking,

"How long have you been playing this game?" PoH informed her,

"Since two and I've played non-stop, although I did not involve myself in the boss battle." Ai-Chan hummed before she pulled out two weapons out of her inventory. Her Reaper Blade and Death Knife. They were a scythe and kusarigama respectively and PoH whistled appreciatively, "Didn't think those became available until the fifth floor." Ai-Chan replied darkly,

"That's because they don't. I will though applaud you for reading the manual." With that PoH withdrew his knife and pointed it at her threateningly,

"Let us see how this battle goes." His blade was sharp with lots of jagged edges, yet Ai-Chan wasn't one bit intimidated. The two lunged at each other and it was a clash of blades in the clearing. Ai-Chan was spinning her scythe with one hand, fending off all his jabs and slashes, and with her other hand she was swinging the kusarigama in a circle. She backed up out of his reach before letting loose the Death Knife, catching and tangling his knife. She pulled it towards her harshly, threw up her scythe into the air before catching PoH's knife, the other end of her Death Knife, shifted both items into her left hand before catching her scythe in her right hand and pointing it at his throat. She snarled viciously,

"I'd say I won, wouldn't you agree?" PoH grinned at her before bowing,

"I concede defeat my Lady Ai-Chan." Ai-Chan smiled at him, tossing his knife back before dematerializing her weapons. She nodded at him with respect,

"You are not half-bad either." PoH laughed,

"Would you say I could beat Kirito, Taiyo, Tenshi, Misaki, or Kamu though?" Ai-Chan raised her eyebrow,

"Stalking me sir?" Once again PoH erupted into laughter before answering in gasps,

"No my lady! I merely questioned Argo the Information Broker. She gave me all the information she had on you, which wasn't particularly bad." In the shadows Kirito and Misaki looked at each other. They whispered to each other,

"That guy… Wants to kill every player." Misaki sounded excited,

"And she took him down like that!" Kirito frowned,

"She's been on since what midnight? And been grinding for the most part, but still...those levels are unnatural. People don't level up that fast." Misaki looked at him,

"And what's your level Kirito-kun?" He responded quietly,

"20." Misaki questioned,

"And that's not unnatural? Both of them have been on a long time. Hell, the PoH guy hasn't even logged out yet!" Kirito grumbled,

"I suppose that's true." Misaki sighed,

"Ai-Chan-sama can handle herself," Misaki gestured at the two before them, "I think she just proved that." Kirito scowled,

"How the hell did she have those two weapons though? She said it herself, you can't get those weapons until the fifth floor!" Misaki shrugged,

"Maybe she isn't who she appears to be." Kirito continued,

"And then there's the fact she used two _different_ weapons at once. It's unheard of!" Misaki didn't respond and Kirito continued ranting, "And scythes and kusarigamas are _really_ expensive if they aren't your beginning weapon. So what _is_ her beginning weapon? I've seen her use a katana, one-handed sword, kusarigama, now scythe, and then this!" His voice had risen so loud that the two he was talking about turned towards them.

"I hear somebody. Do you PoH-kun?" He chuckled,

"I do, and it certainly sounds suspicious. We should look into it, my Lady." They both materialized their respective weapons, for Ai-Chan her red one-handed sword and for PoH, his knife. Ai-Chan called out threateningly,

"If you don't come out, we _will_ hurt you." Kirito and Misaki exchanged glances before high tailing it out if there. They did not want to incur Ai-Chan's wrath after what they had just witnessed.

Ai-Chan and PoH looked at each other as they heard the two run away and laughed together. Ai-Chan smiled, "This has been a fun night PoH. Let us do it again." PoH nodded in agreement before walking off, quickly disappearing into the forest. Ai-Chan watched him leave before turning the other direction. She spoke under her breath, "I know it was you Kirito-kun and Misaki-chan, the only question is why would you be following me?"


	5. Devastation Attack

Chapter 5: Devastation Attack

AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape, or form, at most I own the plot and OCs.

Ai-Chan headed back to the town, it was 10:00 and no one was logged on. Ai-Chan smirked flicking through her Admin Logs which gave her all the information coded in the game. Once she was finished she moved her player icon on her map to another floor, something no other player besides her and her brother could do. She automatically got teleported to Floor 5. She landed in a town that was dark and looked depressing but Ai-Chan was unbothered by it. She started leveling until roughly one in the morning which resulted in her level increasing to 28. After that she logged out, ate the leftovers of dinner her brother left for her and promptly fell asleep. The next morning Hikari and Akihiko ate breakfast together discussing the players they met.

"I met a couple of information brokers, one name is Tekunaifu. He was an interesting guy."

"Kirito-kun is really friendly and nice. He's like an actual knight-in-shining armor. Or at least that's the type of aura I got off of him."

"There was this suspicious dark-purple haired girl, called herself Sutoraiki. Wielded knives. Pretty well at that."

"There's this girl, Misaki-chan, I think she's obsessed with me. However, the girl she was with was a lot calmer, Kamu-chan. She was nice with waist length caramel like curly hair."

"There was guy and he was pretty thickly built. Not fat but muscular. He wielded the Great Onyx Great Sword. His name was Tane which I found interesting."

"Tenshi-kun is pretty cool. I bet he'll end up as a guild leader."

"Anyone else interesting?"

"Two in fact. Taiyo Shinigami." This got a raised eye from her brother,

"Sun Reaper? That's contradictory." Hikari shrugged,

"To each their own." She then met his eyes, "He was good-looking even if that's not his real appearance. White Soul Eater hair, formal clothes worn informally and wielded a scythe, expertly I may say." Akihiko inquired,

"And the other one?" Hikari responded,

"He had a cloak on, but he was only a head shorter than you. Had shaggy brown hair and wielded that Chinese knife you included." Akihiko balked,

"He got his hands on _that_ weapon?!" Hikari looked at him curiously,

"What's so special about it?" Akihiko explained,

"It is formally called Mate Chopper and is not easy to wield. It is a Chinese kitchen knife but with added jagged but sharp edges. It also has a special add-on bonus, sometimes it can induce the Paralyzed or Poisoned status." This caused Hikari to pause before inquiring harshly,

"And you let _beginners_ get their hands on it?! What were you thinking?!" Akihiko held up his hands in defense,

"It could only attained by defeating a mini-boss solo or an item on the higher floors. Specifically Hell Floors." Hikari calmed down and took a deep breath, closing her eyes then opening them looking much calmer,

"Fine." She looked up at him, "He wants to kill every player in the game." She waited for a response and when she didn't get one she continued, "I found I wasn't fond of the idea of people dying in the game dying in real life." Her eyes hardened as she spoke her next words, "I demand you don't make Sword Art Online a death game." Akihiko looked helpless,

"So how do you want me to make it?" Hikari explained,

"Well I was sort of dreaming last night of dying inside of a VRMMORPG and afterwards I found myself in a different VRMMORPG. So I figured you could do something similar to it." With that Akihiko flew into a fit,

"And how am I supposed to do that?! I managed Sword Art Online because of my dream! I couldn't possibly repeat that! It took me years to get this idea solidified into my head and even then it wasn't complete without your help! How do you expect me to create _more_ before the official release?!" Hikari explained to him in a condescending manner,

"I would write out the type of VRMMORPG it would be, along with the list of items and mechanics it would work on. All _you_ would have to do is program." Akihiko calmed down, thinking the idea of it over before speaking slowly,

"That would work…" Hikari continued on,

"Since you're only programming it, I figured that after they died in Sword Art Online they'd just get shunted into the next VRMMORPG. If they died in the next game, the same thing would happen until they got to the tenth game in the line. In that game I'd make it impossible for them to die." Akihiko narrowed his eyes,

"You're asking a lot of me imoto-chan." Hikari merely shrugged,

"Can't say much ani-kun. When PoH brought up the killing of players I became incredibly uncomfortable. I figured this would be a solution." She looked back up, "I also figured that if someone's NerveGear got removed during the official release, they wouldn't die but would be unable to log back in until the game was beaten." Akihiko nodded slowly,

"Your plans are solid imoto-chan. I could definitely do as you have requested." He met her gaze, "We would have to extend the Beta-Testing though." Hikari shrugged,

"Don't care." Akihiko nodded at her readily,

"Done deal then imoto-chan. I will expect to have a list of each world by the end of ten weeks. One week equals one complete list." Hikari agreed,

"Sounds good ani-kun." The problem averted and his sister happy. This made Akihiko happy. Knowing that he was able to please his little sister.

At roughly 12:00 pm Hikari bounced back into the virtual world known as Sword Art Online. She was still on the fifth floor and she decided to get up to level thirty while she was there. Meanwhile Kirito, Diabel, Tenshi, Misaki, Kamu, Tane, and Taiyo were planning for the second floor boss, the Cyclops. Or rather it was Rev the Troll King but they didn't know that. Kirito was talking,

"We've already seen the field boss, so we'll need fast players to take care of it. Tenshi, Misaki, Kamu, and Taiyo, you are assigned to take care of it. It shouldn't be particularly hard and I'll be right beside you. Since we've seen mostly Cyclops on this floor, we're going to assume that the boss is a cyclops. We haven't however, went into the Boss Room yet, so be prepared for anything." All the players nodded, agreeing with Kirito's strategy.

Kirito and Ai-Chan's entourage had already mapped out the second floor and found the boss room after five hours. However, after the town fire it had seemed as if Ai-Chan had disappeared. She was still active on their friends list but afterwards she had completely disappeared. The tracker that could be used via the friends list wasn't working and Kirito hadn't been sure why. It worked with everyone else.

So they, along with about fifty others, made it to the boss room. Kirito looked behind him and shouted, "It's the second day of the game, let's clear the second floor!" The players cheered loudly for the dark blue-haired man as he shoved the door open. And then they caught sight of the Field Boss. The there before them was the Bullbous Bow. The name was slightly deceiving as it wasn't a bow, like a hair accessory. It was more of a bull, dark blue fur, dark red eyes, and dark yellow horns. He huffed and smoke came out of his nostrils, eyes darting as it looked at the players. Tenshi readied his katana, Misaki pulled out her rapier, Kamu hooked her kusarigama behind her shoulders ready to take off, and Taiyo spun his scythe casually. He spoke in a cool tone,

"Ready to go Tenshi, Misaki, and Kamu?" The three replied positively just as the bull charged. The four jumped out of the way, but Kamu caught its horns in her kusarigama. Misaki cheered,

"Good work Kamu-chan! Now it's my turn!" She then proceeded to slid under the bull and strike at its belly which caused it to attempt to trample her. However, a white-haired man shouted, interfering and distracting the bull,

"Hey, you! Are you ready to get a taste of my blade?! He was dressed in all black with the same hairstyle of Taiyo. The white-haired man pulled out a strange looking katana, which looked more to be a cross of an axe and spear. He then activated a strong Skill that none of them recognized, when it in reality was a simple combined Skill called Right Downward Diagonal, Back Left Spin Rush. It allowed him to do a Downward Diagonal but afterward he spun to his right to go into a Left Horizontal. He then proceeded to do the reverse move of it, Left Downward Diagonal, Back Right Spin Rush. He wasn't allowing the bull to move at all as he hacked away at it. Taiyo frowned and decided to interrupt the man. He approached the bull and spun his scythe before jumping up and doing a Linear Scythe Skill. He then jumped back. The other white-haired man looked annoyed that someone got in his way, but he couldn't do much as Tenshi ran in with a Horizontal on the bull's left side. The thing was trapped by three players and it couldn't do its charging which was frustrating it. Of the three bars that had appeared, it was in the middle of its second health bar. Misaki took that as her cue to attempt to stab the bull in its face, which sort of worked. Her rapier got caught in its face, which wasn't boding too well for the red-haired girl. She couldn't pull the blade out. Taiyo, noticing the girl's struggle rolled his eyes and strolled up to her and yanked on the hilt of her rapier. It came out perfectly fine, and Misaki smiled at him,

"Thanks Taiyo-kun!" He smiled at her indulgently,

"Not a problem Misaki-chan." Misaki sighed,

"I do wonder where Ai-Chan-sama went though." Taiyo replied,

"As do I, but she can take care of herself perfectly fine." As if on cue Ai-Chan appeared in the room. The difference was, she was behind the bull so no one could see her. She had spent the majority of the time grinding and planning for the other VRMMORPGs. So she was now at a nice high level. With a single easy swipe, Ai-Chan killed the bull. At it dissipated into pixels Ai-Chan clacked her tongue disapprovingly,

"If it took so long for you to beat the field boss how do you expect to beat the floor boss?" Kirito responded,

"By using all of us instead of a select few." The white-haired man decided that then was a good time to introduce himself,

"I am Hino Yoru, the amazing axe-spear user! You shall all fear me." Most of the players did cower, he did look mighty intimidating with all black clothes and white hair. However, Ai-Chan, Kirito, Misaki, Kamu, and Taiyo merely stared at him. Tenshi face-palmed and mumbled,

"Did you _have_ to do that? That was...embarrassing." This caused everyone to look at Tenshi instead but only Ai-Chan spoke,

"Who are you again? And why are you here?" Hino Yoru boasted,

"I am the great and feared Hino Yoru, a future guild leader of a Chaos Guild! I am here to defeat the boss!" His voice lowered dramatically, " _Alone_." Ai-Chan looked at him as if he was stupid,

"I doubt your levels high enough to solo the boss. You probably couldn't even beat Misaki in a fair fight." With those words all the players began to laugh at him. Hino Yoru narrowed his eyes before he began rushing players, cutting through their stomachs, halving their HP. He snarled,

"I'd like to see you face the boss now." Ai-Chan subtly turned on her Admin Sight and quickly scanned for his level. While she was at a nice level 30, he was at 17 which wasn't _bad_. After all it was roughly three levels lower than the lowest player here. She proceeded to announce this,

"Sir Hino Yoru, you are at level seventeen, three levels lower than the lowest player here. Kirito is at level 27, Diabel 26, Tenshi 25, Misaki 25, Kamu 25, and Taiyo at 26. I am at level thirty, nearly twice your level. Either join the raid party properly or get out of my sight." The players took in her knowledge and once again Kirito and Misaki became suspicious of her. Not that she noticed. The two exchanged glances before deciding to let it lie… For now at least.

Not for the first time was Tenshi glad for Ai-Chan's presence. It was strong and would let no one go without answers. She knew everything about this game and was exceptionally talented. So he was glad when she got Kirito and Taiyo to stop fighting. He was glad when she revealed the two girls following him. And now he was glad that she called out his friend, Hino-kun. Hino-kun had a tendency to be a bit dramatic. He took things far too seriously, but really he couldn't take anything serious at all. He had a biting wit that he used for times like this, was rash and bold, but Tenshi still put up with it because Hino-kun was a lifelong friend.

Hino was cowed by Ai-Chan's words and he cowered for a moment before picking himself back up and yelled,

"Well watch this!" He kicked the boss room door open and charged inside. Ai-Chan sighed before running in after him. Her little entourage quickly followed her, along with the rest of the uninjured players. Hino had only halved five players HP, so they stayed behind.

Once they entered the room lit up with torches and it revealed a troll. Not the cyclops they had been expecting. The name revealed itself as Rev the Troll King and then he roared summoning mini Cyclops Warriors. Their weapons were clubs and their skin was rather durable, making it difficult to injure them. Those who chose maces were the ones with the most luck, as the swords mostly just bounced off their skin. Very few people were able to damage them effectively, but Kirito, Taiyo, and Ai-Chan weren't having a problem. Kirito's strength level was insane and Taiyo was known as "Sun" for a reason. He was strong and ruthless, but was more intent on learning about how the game worked than anything else.

Ai-Chan on the other hand was overpowered and cut through the cyclops with ease. She spun and slashed and twirled and danced before reaching Rev the Troll King. At this point most of the players were in the yellow zone with their HP bar and were backing up to re-enter the dungeon. Soon only ten players were left with the boss. Ai-Chan, Kirito, Misaki, Tenshi, Kamu, and Taiyo were among them. They made up over half of the remaining players. Hino was still fighting but it was clear he was struggling. Ai-Chan sighed before taking out the Cyclops he was fighting. Hino yelled,

"Hey! What was that for?! I was handling it just fine!" Ai-Chan didn't even deign to respond, instead throwing him at the steps to the next floor. She switched out her katana for her kusarigama, which had maces on the ends instead of blades. She then began swinging one above her head before letting it ram into the Troll King. She pulled it out with a powerful yank of her right hand. She then began swinging it again which took out all the monsters trying to attack her. Kirito eyed her again as he fought the Cyclops with somewhat ease. He then noticed Misaki eyeing the black-haired warrior as well.

Taiyo even paused and stared as he saw her launch the kusarigama over and over again and soon enough Rev the Troll King shattered. Hino, being the one closest to the door, opened it but didn't exit like the rest of the players. Instead he shouted,

"What was that for?! I had the boss in the bag!" Ai-Chan inquired,

"Then why was I the only one who landed any hits on the rampaging boss?" Hino had no argument against that so he stomped away. Ai-Chan merely sighed before she began toggling her menu. She had a new coat of troll skin with spikes, although it was more of a vest. She didn't really mind as she Equipped it, giving her a higher defense and did damage to those who made physical contact with her. Kirito complimented her,

"Good job on defeating the boss." Ai-Chan shrugged,

"It really was nothing." Kirito looked at her suspiciously,

"You said earlier you were level 30, I'm curious. How did you get that high overnight?" Ai-Chan replied,

"Leveling for hours on end."

"Where? I couldn't find you via the tracking device in the Friend's List." Ai-Chan frowned,

"You might want to contact a GM about that. It may be a glitch." Kirito challenged her,

"Then why was it working with everyone else? Is there something you're hiding Ai-Chan?" Ai-Chan looked at the boy before chuckling,

"Really Kirito-kun? You do realize it's only the third day of playing right? And we just cleared the second floor. We're moving quite a bit faster than most players would." Kirito agreed with that statement. Under normal circumstances it would have taken them days to even find the boss room, but they had found the first boss room in only a matter of hours. Sixteen of them to be precise and not one of those hours had Ai-Chan logged out. It had only taken 12 hours to find the second boss room and Kirito had already faced a few mini-bosses. He had the Anneal Blade +10, the maximum amount of upgrades the sword could have. It had a good power stat or attack power of 100, something rather high for the second floor. Most weapons only had an attack power of 50. Due to the Anneal Blade's attack power being double that, it had allowed Kirito to slice through the cyclops with ease. He was also aware that the Durability was at 75, which was pretty good comparatively to others durability. It only needed someone with 50 Strength and it had no debuffs, so it didn't slow him down at all unlike the Broadswords in the game.

Kirito left the boss room not feeling satisfied. He had barely been able to get a hit in as Ai-Chan had plowed through the room as if it was nothing. He wasn't sure what to think of her. She was extremely strong, but rather anti-social. Kirito wasn't quite sure what to make of her. But then again he only knew her for three days. He looked at the floor around him, he was in the middle of a forest. He looked behind him and saw a cave opening. He sighed as he began walking through the Forest of Light. He quickly ran into a Triolf and he easily dismembered it. He then found himself surrounded by them and was almost overwhelmed before Misaki, Taiyo, and Tenshi joined him. Together the four easily defeated the horde of Triolfs. Kirito began questioning them, wondering if they noticed the same oddities with Ai-Chan as he had.

"Did you notice how Ai-Chan knew Hino's level when he never announced it? She also knew our levels. Player's cannot see other player's levels unless they choose to show it and we never did that." Misaki murmured,

"The tracking feature in the Friend's List doesn't always work with her." Taiyo brought up,

"Has anyone even tried contacting a GM about it yet?" The two shook her heads negatively. "Maybe you should do that before you begin accusing her." The two shrugged somewhat carelessly before muttering,

"Just thought it was weird. We haven't encountered it anywhere else." The four then made their way into the Town of Silence and they could see why. There wasn't a single noise in the town and it was eerie despite all the light. In fact, the light made it even creepier. Kirito approached one of the NPC's and politely asked,

"Where's the inn in this town?" The NPC merely pointed at a building before it continued on it's way. Misaki whispered,

"This is weird. I've never been anywhere so quiet." Kirito nodded but instead of going to the inn he approached the billboard that was in the middle of the town before he gestured them to come over. He explained,

"There's a curse on this town that prevents the NPC's from speaking. In order to complete the quest we need twelve Triolf legs, four Triolf eyes, a purple Neptunium Flower from the Rabid Nest, and a Cursed Green Light." Tenshi frowned,

"Sure sounds mysterious for a Forest Floor." Misaki quietly inquired,

"Should we take the quest?" Taiyo studied the board,

"Well, we'll get a house here, plus 500,000 Col and some weapons. Specifically a Light Kusarigama, Astral Sword, and Wind Reaper." Kirito now sounded interested,

"Do you know what type of sword the Astral Sword is? Or what type of weapon the Wind Reaper is?" Tenshi answered Kirito,

"According to the manual, the Astral Sword is a two-handed sword that has the ability to absorb spirits. It is a light purple in color and looks rather translucent. It has low Durability and Strength I'm afraid Kirito. Both are below 50. However, it is double-edged and has a Sharpness of 90. You wouldn't like it very much. The Wind Reaper is a white katana that has an interesting Durability of 30, Strength of 60, and Sharpness of 120." Kirito nodded and whistled,

"Despite the fact I wouldn't use them, they sound like fair decent weapons." Misaki informed them,

"The Light Kusarigama has a Durability of 45, Strength of 85, and Sharpness of 85 as well. I think Kamu-chan would like this." Taiyo nodded,

"Let's invite Kamu-chan on this quest. I could work with the Astral Sword, Kamu-chan can get the Light Kursarigama, and Tenshi can get the Wind Reaper." Taiyo quickly caught Kirito's amused look before he chuckled, "Don't feel left out Kirito-kun. You have the Anneal Blade and have a higher level than all of us." He eyed Misaki before grinning, "Don't worry either Misaki-chan. We'll find you a nice rapier soon I'm sure."

So Misaki messaged Kamu to join them and the caramel haired girl quickly joined them. She spoke softly,

"The Light Kursarigama sounds like a splendid weapon to have. Thank you for inviting me on this quest." Taiyo replied joyously,

"Well, it's not like we know a lot of Kursarigama users!" Kamu shot back,

"Well you could have always invited Ai-Chan. She'd undoubtedly do all the work for you." Kirito butted in,

"Then it wouldn't be nearly as fun!" The group burst into laughter at Kirito's comment. Misaki wiped her eyes,

"That's true Kirito-kun. That's true." So they re-entered the Forest of Light and began hunting Triolf hordes, which were both easy and hard to find. Sometimes they'd find themselves ambushed by the Triolves which wasn't particularly easy to deal with. The afterwards they'd run into unfriendly Dark Elves which they'd have to fight off as well. They ended up going deeper and deeper into the forest, and soon it got dark out. The five looked at each other and they all wondered, _should we log out and continue tomorrow?_ They were quickly answered when they spotted a glowing green light in the distance. While fighting the Triolves they had quickly gathered the twelve Triolf Legs (they were really branches) and four Triolf Eyes (these were jade orbs).

They chased after it before realizing they weren't getting any closer. The five looked at each other in confusion before looking back at the glowing green light in the distance. Maybe they needed to approach it slowly? So the five slowed down and approached it, but once again they couldn't get any closer to the light. They stared at each other and began wondering where they went wrong. They began walking towards it slowly and then realized there was a dark figure standing near the light. They looked at each other and began walking even quieter. Soon they were only feet away from the figure, but it had a dark purple cloak on. Kirito quietly withdrew his Anneal Blade and did a Vertical cutting away part of the cloak. The person moved backwards and to the right, revealing glowing dark blue eyes. Misaki's own cat eyes glowed as well as she hissed,

"Who are you and what are you doing with that light?" The person drew the orb of light closer to her and withdrew a small dagger that had small white gems embedded in the blade. She whispered back,

"I am the blade of those who need to be avenged. I am the blade of righteousness. I am _Sutoraiki_." Kirito muttered,

"Poison Strike. If that doesn't sound ominous." Taiyo spoke cheerily,

"Well Sutoraiki, are you doing the Cursed Town Quest?" Sutoraiki nodded slowly before revealing the glowing green orb,

"The Cursed Green Light." Tenshi wondered,

"Why is it cursed?" Sutoraiki answered him by pointing at the Dark Elves running at them, only seen by their glowing dark green eyes. She murmured,

"They want the light. They created it and … One of the floor bosses cursed the entire floor. One by one you must unlock the curses to solve the floor." Tenshi was the first one to get it,

"The entire layout of this floor is of a maze, a puzzle." Kirito frowned,

"So what? Each town is cursed by a boss on one of the upper floors?" Sutoraiki nodded,

"Mmhmm. The curses will regenerate." Kirito sighed,

"I guess the quest is pointless then. We might as well finish it for the weapons but afterwards we out to map out the main dungeon." Sutoraiki looked at him as if he was an idiot before 'dropping' the light and putting her dagger to Kirito's neck as she hissed,

"We have to solve the floor puzzle to find the boss! The dungeons here don't lead to any monster boss!" Kirito inquired,

"And how do you know that?" Sutoraiki snarl-whispered,

"Argo the Rat has already mapped and checked out the dungeons. There is no hint to there being a boss room within." Kirito looked at her weirdly,

"We literally _just_ opened this floor up. How could Argo _possibly_ know that there isn't a boss hiding inside the dungeon?"


End file.
